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Dead City

Zombies in Manhattan! Who would guess? There are different levels of the “undead” (they do not like the word Zombie) living in the world amongst the living. But the “undead” aren’t just normal zombies in this book. They can speak, think, and have emotion depending on the level of the Zombie. A new twist is making the undead emotional, feeling creatures - some of which are just trying to live peacefully among humans. But some zombies are trouble makers and that’s where the Omega Society comes into play. It is now Molly and her team's job to gather clues, solve puzzles, and track down the evil undead.

Molly Bigelow, a seventh grader, learns about the existence of the “undead” from her classmates. She is recruited into an organization called the Omega, a secret group that both protects and fights the “Undead” Of New York. All of the members follow the rules of CLAP: keep Calm, Listen, Avoid physical confrontation and Punish.

New York City has been under siege by zombies ever since 13 workers were killed while digging subway tunnels in 1896. The zombies acquire their strength from a special rock found under Manhattan. Thus the Omegas need to keep track of these undead and protect the city.

During Molly’s training, she learns that her mother was an Omega. She realizes that her mother had her take martial arts classes and memorize the periodic table in order to follow in her footsteps. The Omegas use the Periodic Table of Elements to construct codes. After extensive training Molly is ready to conquer any challenge thrown her way. When the evil Marek shows up and puts the city in danger, Molly is ready to defend herself.

This is definitely a fast-paced, fun adventure story for middle school age students in 5th through 7th grade who love books about zombies. The story moves along at a good pace and has plenty of plot twists to keep things interesting. The ending leads towards a sequel.